Municipal wastewater electrical power generation assembly and a method for generating electrical power

ABSTRACT

An electrical generating assembly  10  which may be selectively used in combination with and/or as part of a municipal wastewater treatment facility  12  and which allows the wastewater treatment facility  12  to generate electrical energy  48, 62, 13  as received wastewater  14  is cleaned according to a plurality of diverse energy generating strategies.

This application is a continuation nonprovisional application Ser. No.12/229,533 and which was filed on Aug. 22, 2008 now U.S. Pat. No.7,915,749.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a municipal wastewaterelectrical power generating assembly and to a method for generatingelectrical power and, more particularly, to an assembly and to a methodwhich allows for the efficient generation of electrical power andelectrical energy from a wastewater treatment facility according to avariety of generating strategies which may be selectively used in adesired manner.

2. Background of the Invention

A wastewater treatment facility typically receives waste laden waterbased liquid (generally and most typically denoted as “wastewater”) andis adapted to and actually treats the contained waste by removingundesirable waste constituents from the received liquid (e.g., organictype constituents) and returns or generates or “creates” substantially“clean” water which may be further processed to create what is oftenreferred to as “drinkable” Water. Typically, such a treatment facilityis owned and operated by a municipality and the treated liquid whichemanates from that municipality (i.e., the generated or produced “clean”water) is transmitted back to citizens or residents of thatmunicipality.

While these wastewater treatment facilities do indeed desirably treatsuch waste liquid, they undesirably utilize a lot of electrical energyand the cost of such energy is increasing. Moreover the cost and use ofsuch electrical energy for all purposes is vastly increasing throughoutthe world.

The present invention enhances the operational performance of suchwastewater treatment facilities by allowing for the efficient generationof electrical power as part of the overall wastewater treatment process,wherein such generated electrical power may be used for a variety ofpurposes and in a variety of applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a first non-limiting object of the present invention to provide anassembly which may be used within a wastewater treatment facility andwhich allows for the generation of electrical power as part of theoverall wastewater treatment process.

It is a second non-limiting object of the present invention to provide amethod for generating electrical power as part of a wastewater treatmentprocess.

It is a third non-limiting object of the present invention to provide anassembly and a method which is adapted to employ a plurality of diverseelectrical energy generating strategies and to allow several or all or aselected singular strategy to be selectively employed.

According to a first non-limiting aspect of the present invention anassembly is provided for use in combination with a wastewater treatmentfacility of the type which receives waste containing liquid and whichproduces substantially clean water and waste, the assembly of thepresent invention including a first portion which selectively receivesthe substantially clean water and which selectively generateselectricity by use of the received substantially clean water; a secondportion which receives the waste and which selectively generateselectricity by use of the received waste; and a third portion whichcontrols the operation of the first and second portions, therebycontrolling the generation of electricity by use of the waste containingliquid.

According to a second non-limiting aspect of the present invention, amethod for generating electrical energy is provided. Particularly, themethod includes receiving wastewater which comprises a combination ofwater and waste; removing the waste from the wastewater, therebyproducing substantially clean water; causing the substantially cleanwater to flow through a first turbine assembly and to thereafter enter aretention pond, producing gas from the received waste; and using the gasto operate a second turbine assembly, wherein the first and secondturbine assemblies are each adapted to selectively produce electricalenergy.

According to a third non-limiting aspect of the present invention anassembly is provided for use in combination with a wastewater treatmentfacility of the type which receives waste containing liquid and whichproduces substantially clean water and waste, the assembly of thepresent invention including a first portion which selectively receivesthe substantially clean water and which selectively generateselectricity by use of the substantially clean water; a second portionwhich receives the waste and which generates waste gas; a third portionwhich selectively receives the waste gas and which selectively generateselectricity by use of the waste gas; a controller which is coupled tosaid first, second, and third portions and which controls the operationof the first, second, and third portions, thereby controlling thegeneration of electricity by use of the waste containing liquid.

According to a fourth non-limiting aspect of the present invention amethod for generating electrical energy is provided. Particularly, themethod comprises a plurality of electric energy generating strategiesinvolving wastewater; and selectively utilizing the predeterminedcontrol strategies in a manner which allows a substantially constantamount of electric energy to be produced.

These and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from a reading of the detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment of the invention and byreference to the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the assembly and method for generatingelectrical power according to the teachings of the preferred embodimentof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an electrical power generationassembly 10 which is made in accordance with the teachings of thepreferred, although non-limiting, invention and which is operativelydeployed within and which operates in combination with and/or whichforms a part of an overall wastewater treatment facility 12, such as butnot-limited to a municipal wastewater treatment facility.

Particularly, as should be known to those of ordinary skill in the art,the wastewater treatment facility 12 receives wastewater 14 and produceswater 16 which has a reduced amount of organic material. This “cleaned”water 16 (i.e., sometimes referred to as “substantially clean water) istypically sent to a holding tank assembly 48 which may agitate the waterand/or further process the water, before it is deemed to be “drinkable”or potable. The substantially “drinkable” water 5 is then transmittedand/or delivered to the various residents, citizens, and business/otherentities which operate within that municipality. The combination of theorganic removal assembly and the holding tank assembly 30 cooperativelyform the wastewater treatment facility 12, according to one non-limitingembodiment.

The treatment system 12 includes an organic removal assembly 18 (such asan agitator assembly) which is adapted to receive the wastewater 14 andto selectively remove the organic material from the received wastewater14, thereby creating substantially clean water 16. It should beappreciated that the present invention is independent of the actualorganic material removal process and that substantially any desiredorganic removal process may be utilized, of which there may be many.Importantly, according to the known and utilized strategies, thesubstantially clean water 16 is transmitted, in one non-limitingembodiment, to holding tanks 30 while the removed organic material 36 istypically discarded.

According to the teachings of the present invention, the substantiallyclean water 16, on its way to the holding tanks or pond 30, is made tofirst traverse a first turbine assembly 40 and such traversal causes thegeneration of electrical energy or electrical power 48. That is, theturbine assembly 40 includes the combination of a turbine 101 and agenerator 102 and the moving water 16 causes the blades of the turbine101 to move, and such movement is transferred to the generator 102 whichcauses the generator to generate electricity or electrical power 48. Theobtained organic material 36 is transmitted, in one non-limitingembodiment, to a digester assembly 50 (e.g., comprising in onenon-limiting embodiment, a plurality of holding tanks) and the organicmaterial subsequently produces digester gas 55. This digester gas 55 isthen used to operate a second turbine assembly 60 which may besubstantially similar to assembly 40 and which produces electrical power62 (e.g., the produced gas is made to turn/move the blades of theturbine of this second assembly 40, which causes concomitant movementwithin a second generator which is effective to produce electricity orelectrical power 62). Both of the turbine assemblies 40, 60 operateunder the direction and control of controller assembly 70 and may eachbe selectively connected to the power grid of the municipality where thegenerated electrical power 48, 62 may be sold and utilized.Alternatively the produced electrical power 48, 62 may be utilized bythe wastewater treatment plant itself.

Moreover, the organic material may alternatively be utilized/processedas fertilizer and the digester gas may be transmitted to a heatexchanger assembly and the produced heated air may be usedwithin/outside of the plant 12.

Alternatively or concurrently with the foregoing operation of theturbine assemblies, 40, 60, some or all of the organic material 36 maybe transmitted to a furnace assembly 100 where the received organicmaterial 36 is combusted and made to produce steam 102. The steam 102may then be selectively communicated to a third turbine assembly 110(which may be substantially similar to assembly 40) and the gas 102causes the blades of the turbine portion of the third turbine assembly110 to move, which in turn causes the generator portion of the thirdturbine assembly 110 to generate electricity 13. Alternatively, thecreated gas 102 may be selectively communicated to the second turbineassembly 60 and/or to the first turbine assembly 40 which causes thisturbine assembly 60 to produce electricity.

It should be appreciated that the foregoing electric power generatorsystem 10 has three separate and unique power generator strategies(e.g., each strategy, in one non-limiting embodiment uses a uniqueturbine assembly 40, 60, 110) which may be singularly or cooperativelyemployed in any manner (e.g., each strategy may respectively andsingularly be utilized, any two strategies may be utilized, or all threestrategies may be utilized as desired).

It should further be appreciated that the control assembly 70 maycomprise a computer which is operable under stored program control andis coupled to a first control valve 120, a second control valve 130, anda third control valve 140. Particularly, the control assembly 70 iscoupled to valve 120 by bus 119 and by use of valve 120, assembly 70allows the substantially clean water 16 to either flow through the firstturbine assembly 40 or to bypass the assembly and enter into holdingtank assembly 30. If no water 16 flows trough assembly 40, electricalpower 48 is not produced. The control assembly 70 is coupled to valve130 by bus 131 and by use of valve 130, assembly 70 either allows orprevents the emitted gas 55 to enter the turbine assembly 60. If no gas55 flows through assembly 60, no electrical power 62 is produced. Thecontrol assembly 70 is coupled to valve 140 by bus 141 and by the use ofcontrol valve 140, assembly 70 either allows or prevents material 36from entering the furnace or combustion chamber 100. If no material 36enters furnace 100, no electrical power 13 is produced. In this manner,the selective activation of the control valves 120, 130, 140 allows forthe use of the diverse strategies and such use is important becausethere may be an interruption or uneven supply in the substantially cleanwater 16, and/or there occurs a fault in one or more of the turbineassemblies 40, 60, 110, with such multiple strategies, electrical power,to some extent, may continue to be produced even if such a fault orinterruption occurs. Moreover, the control assembly 70 may be programmedto provide a substantially constant amount of electric power. That is,in this production it is highly undesirable to have “spikes” (i.e.,increases) or troughs (i.e., decreases) in the desired amount ofelectrical power production. The three strategies may be selectivelyemployed by the controller assembly 70 to provide a substantiallyconstant amount of electrical power. That is, controller assembly 70constantly, in one non-limiting embodiment, monitors the amount ofproduced electrical power 48, 62, and 13 (by the use of a power meterassembly which is coupled to each of the turbine assemblies 40, 60, 110)and, through the control of valves, 120 130, 140, selects whichstrategies to use and the respective duration of use, in order tomaintain an overall constant amount of generated electrical power. Inyet a further non-limiting embodiment, heat which is exhausted from thefurnace assembly 100 may be used/sold to heat homes or other buildings.In yet another non-limiting embodiment, a business method is providedwhereby the electric power generation assembly 12 is provided to amunicipality and operated by a private entity which provides some of theproduced electrical power to that municipality and sells the rest,thereby comprising a profitable business venture.

It is to be understood that the present inventions are not limited tothe scope or content of the subjoined claims but that variousmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and thescope of the various inventions which are set forth in the followingclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for generating electrical energyfrom a wastewater treatment facility which receives water containingwaste material, said method comprising the steps of placing a turbinewithin said wastewater treatment facility; separating said wastematerial from said water; causing said water, after said waste materialhas been removed, to be communicated to said turbine, effective to causesaid turbine to generate electricity; and preventing said previouslyseparated waste water from being combined with said water, therebycausing said previously separated waste material to remain separatedfrom said water.
 2. An energy generation assembly comprising a firstturbine assembly which selectively generates electricity when said firstturbine assembly receives water, a second turbine assembly whichselectively generates electricity when said second turbine assemblyreceives steam; and a third turbine assembly which selectively generateselectricity when said third turbine assembly receives digestive gas; anassembly which is coupled to said first, second, and third turbineassemblies; and a controller assembly which is coupled to said assemblyand to said first, second, and third turbines and wherein saidcontroller assembly selectively operates said assembly to cooperativelyproduce a predetermined and substantially constant amount of electricityby use of said first, second, and third turbine assemblies.
 3. Theenergy generation assembly of claim 2 further comprising a first valvewhich is coupled to said first turbine assembly and to said controllerassembly; a second valve which is coupled to said second turbineassembly and to said controller assembly; and a third valve which iscoupled to said turbine assembly and to said controller assembly andwherein said first, second, and third valves are respectively coupled towater, steam, and digestive gas and wherein said controller selectivelyand controllably allows said first, second, and third valves torespectively communicate said water, steam, and digestive gas to saidfirst, second, and third turbine assemblies only at respective certainperiods of time, effective to cause said first, second, and thirdturbine assemblies to cooperatively produce said constant amount ofelectricity.
 4. An improved wastewater treatment plant for the treatmentof wastewater which comprises a combination of water and waste andhaving a wastewater treatment assembly which separates the water fromthe waste and a holding tank which receives the separated water, whereinthe improvement comprising a turbine which receives the separated waterfrom the wastewater treatment assembly, which utilizes said receivedseparated water to produce electricity and which communicates saidreceived separated water to said holding tank after said electricity hasbeen produced.